Books Don't Teach Everything
by YaoiLosersOnTheLoose
Summary: Sai overhears Ino and Sakura having a conversation, and it gets his brain turning. SaiNaru
1. Chapter 1

_**Interpersonal love refers to love between human beings. It is a more potent sentiment than a simple **__**liking**__** for another. Unrequited love refers to those feelings of love that are not reciprocated. Interpersonal love is most closely associated with interpersonal relationships. Such love might exist between family members, friends, and couples. There are also a number of psychological disorders related to love, such as **__**erotomania**__**.**_

Sai pondered the information. He had heard Sakura and Ino talking earlier, and the conversation had been bothering him since.

_-Earlier-_

"…_could be love!"_

_Sai paused. He had been walking past the flower shop when he heard Ino's voice. He spotted them, standing by the counter. The door was propped open, most likely due to the fact that it was a beautiful day, and there was a perpetual flow of customers. _

"_Wow, Ino…" a second voice spoke up, that Sai quickly identified as Sakura's. "Are you sure? Because, no offense or anything, but you change crushes pretty fast."_

"_WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN, FOREHEAD?"_

_Sai frowned and backed away from the door as the two girls yelled: he quite liked his eardrums. When their voices calmed, he moved closer once more, once again making sure he was out of the doorway, and out of view. _

"_All I meant was that love is different from a crush. Trust me: it took me forever to realize the difference." _

_Sai tilted his head. What did Sakura mean by that?_

"_Well, that's because you don't have Ino Intuition." Ino replied. _

"_Ino Intuition?" Sakura replied in a tone that implied she believed Ino had lost her mind. _

"_Yep! Ino Intuition: the skill to not have to think about it, you just know." _

_Sakura grumbled something in response, not loud enough for Sai to catch, and he backed away from the door at the sound of footsteps. He turned to walk away, but paused when he heard his name called._

"_Hey, Sai!" Sakura called. Sai turned to face her as she walked out of the store, silently wondering whether or not to let her know he had been listening. Upon remembering how hard she could punch, he decided 'No' would probably be the safest answer. _

"_Hello." He replied, fake smile instantly falling into place: a knee-jerk reaction he had yet to get over._

"_What's up? Are you going to visit Naruto in the hospital?"_

_He nodded. Naruto had been worn out after their last mission, in which he had, as usual, blown things way out of proportion and lost his temper several times._

"_You wanna walk together?" Sakura asked. Sai nodded again. He never really understood why she asked if they could walk together anywhere, seeing as they would be going to the same place anyway. Logically, it was a pointless question that required no answer. Needless to say, he kept this observation to himself to avoid getting hit. _

_As they walked, Sakura babbled on about random subjects, and Sai found his mind wandering back to her and Ino's conversation. _

_Love… He didn't know much about love. _

_Sakura seemed to, though._

"_Sakura…" Sai interrupted Sakura's babbling. She paused and turned to him. _

"_Yes?"_

"…" _He paused. He didn't know how to approach this subject at all. What if it upset her? Or if it was a stupid question that he should already know? Or if she didn't know either? _

"_Just spit it out, Sai!" _

"_Do you know anything about love?"_

_Sakura seemed genuinely surprised at the question._

"_Well…" She murmured, starting to walk again. "I guess. I mean, I thought I loved Sasuke when I was younger, but really, it was more of a petty crush. I don't think I really loved him until…Well, probably his and Naruto's first serious fight. They were on the hospital roof, and went at each other with the Chidori and the Rasengan, like…seriously went at each other. Like they were trying to kill each other. I tried to stop them…I almost got killed. Kakashi-sensei stopped them before I did, though."_

"_How did that make you sure? That you loved Sasuke? It seems to me like it would make you like him less."_

"_Why's that?"_

"_He was going at Naruto with killing intent, wasn't he?"_

_Sakura frowned. "Well, yeah. But…Naruto was doing the same thing. It was complicated. It was like…Like seeing my brother and the boy I loved trying to kill each other…It's…hard to explain. I don't know. Did that make sense?"_

"_Not really."_

"_Oh well. I'm sure there are other sources. Why'd you want to know anyway? Got your eye on someone?" She gave him a mischievous smirk._

"_Just curious." Sai mumbled. He was hyper-aware of the blush on his cheeks, and inquisitive to its cause. Sakura laughed as he wondered exactly which of her statements made his face heat up so much._

_-Present-_

Sai set the book down and turned to the next one.

_**When you would give your life for a person, and you want nothing more than for them to be happy, and you do everything in their best interest, you love them. Romantic love can be identified by feeling comfortable around a person, and when you need someone, they are either there, or you want them to be.**_

Sai instantly thought of Naruto. Naruto must love a lot of people. He defiantly loved the village, and he'd proved that on several occasions…but he must also love Sakura, seeing how he treated the girl. And then, he must also love Sasuke, because he was so defensive when people insulted him, and how it was one of his main goals to save the boy. Sai felt a slight depression he couldn't explain creep up on him as he thought this. Sai wondered vaguely if he loved anyone.

Someone you would give your life for.

The statement conjured up the mental image of Team Kakashi/Yamato.

Someone you want to be happy above all else.

Kakashi and Yamato slowly faded. Their happiness was important, but not in his top priority.

Someone for whom you do everything only in their best interest.

The image held.

Someone I am always comfortable around, who is there when I need them.

Sakura faded.

He smiled. Not even a fake smile.

Sai suddenly felt better than he had in a long time.

He stood and went back to touring the shelves, a new goal in mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura loved libraries. They were full of information, an endless sea of knowledge on the shelves.

Naruto hated libraries. They were dusty, and quiet, and boring.

However, Naruto is also aware of the strength of Sakura's punch. Therefore, when she asked (demanded) for him to come to the library with her after he was checked out of the hospital, he went with little protest.

"So…why'd you wanna go to the library anyway, tebayo?" Naruto asked, hands going behind his head in his usual lazy pose as he walked.

"Sai was going to come with me to the hospital to see you, but he started asking questions, and I told him to look it up in a book, and…" Sakura babbled on as Naruto promptly tuned her out. They were going to see Sai. Why couldn't she just say that? She would drone on and on about a subject when there were much easier ways to say it.

"What kind of questions?" Naruto interrupted the 10-page speech of a story.

"…Well…I don't know if he'd want me to tell you…" Sakura shifted the books she was holding awkwardly.

"Were they about me? Or…No way! Did he ask you- No, he couldn't have, you would have punched him, tebayo. Hard. No, that might have been why he ran off to the library…"

"He asked about love, idiot!" Sakura yelled, slamming a book down on his head, rather than trying to find a place to put it long enough to punch him.

"Oh…Well…Do you think…he _likes _someone?"

"Maybe…He did blush when I asked…"

Naruto gave a chuckle. Not a normal one, but the kind of evil pervert chuckle Jiraya would give.

"Don't tell him I told you, though!" Sakura said, in her standard non-nonsense 'I mean it!' kind of voice. "This stays between you and me!"

"I got it, I got it, tebayo!" Naruto grinned. "So…who do you think it is?"

"Well…I hate to play guessing games on other people's emotions, but…Its Sai, so he probably just is confused on the meaning of a crush. Meaning, he thinks he likes someone he's close to."

"So, you? 'Cause, you know, that would sign him up for a lot of competition, dattebayo!"

Sakura blushed. "Maybe not. He seems to…not trust me? Not like me? He's cautious around me. Anyway, I don't think it's me. And he isn't close to a lot of people."

"He called Ino beautiful, tebayo. Maybe it's her!"

Sakura twitched. "I still don't know why he did that..." She muttered. "Hey, look," She said, nudging Naruto. "We're here."

"Awesome. Time to bug Sai till he tells us who it is, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled, running up the stairs.

Sakura growled and ran after him. "Naruto!" She yelled. "You promised not to say anything!"

"I promised I wouldn't tell him you told me! If he's reading about love, I don't have to!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to facepalm. This was going to be a long day.


	3. Chapter 3

_"Telling someone you love them is always scary. There is the fear of rejection, the worry they love someone else, and the horrible possibility of making a fool out of yourself." _

Sai frowned. This was more difficult than he originally expected.

_"An easy way to get through saying 'I love you' for the first time is to tell it to more than one person, like telling a group of friends or your family that you love them. It takes the personal edge off of it. A smile helps as well. Try not to look to uncomfortable. People react to the emotions of the people around them: If you're uncomfortable, they will be too." _

Sai reread the paragraph before smiling his usual fake smile. Easy enough. He made to turn the page when someone plopped down in the chair across from him. In a moment of inexplicable panic, he slammed the book shut and turned it over, attempting to hide the title. His head shot up and he found himself face to face with his current issue.

_Naruto._

"What're you all jumpy about?" Naruto asked with a devious expression that implied he knew the answer already.

"Nothing. I simply didn't expect you to be out of the hospital already, much less in the library." Not a lie, not the truth. Classic deception.

"What can I say? I heal fast, tebayo. And why is me being in a library surprising?"

"You hate libraries. You get yelled at by the librarian for being too loud every time you come in here, and you swear she just hates you. You sneeze a lot because of the dust, because you like walking in the sections no one goes to."

"Geez, you're observant, dattebayo. Do you take notes on this stuff or something?"

Sai was saved from answering as Sakura popped out of almost nowhere and hit Naruto on the head. "I told you to wait! I swear, if you said anything…"

Sai frowned. Said anything about what? Almost as soon as the thought ran through his brain, he put the pieces together.

Sakura and Ino's conversation. Sai's questions toward Sakura involving love. Naruto's knowing look at Sai's panicked hiding of the book. Sakura warning Naruto not to say anything about something.

She had told him what Sai's latest inquiry was.

Sai faked a smile at Sakura to hide his sudden terror. "Hello, Sakura."

"Hey, Sai!" Sakura turned her attention from beating up Naruto to smiling happily at Sai. "I hope this knucklehead wasn't being to annoying. He took off when we reached the stairs."

"I wasn't bothered." Sai assured her politely. He took this opportunity to attempt to get the book off the table and to the side without being noticed. Unfortunately, Sakura caught the movement.

"New book?" She asked, almost exactly mimicking the look Naruto had given him upon his arrival.

"Yes." Sai fought to keep his face neutral. Why was he so dead set on hiding this book? "It seemed interesting. I didn't learn a whole lot from it, though."

"Ah…anything to do with our conversation earlier." She winked. Why would she wink? He remembered reading that winking was body language for a secret, or flirting. Their conversation may fall under the 'secret' category, but there was also the possibility she thought the reason he was questioning love was because of her…In that case he would have to do something…but what? How did he even properly understand her intentions? He could be reading too much into it.

"SAI!" Sakura's voice cut through his thoughts, and he realized he had spaced out. "Jeez, you're out of it today."

"I'm sorry. I was simply thinking…"

"About your secret crush?" Naruto asked with a grin. Sai's eyes widened as his head jerked to Naruto. _How much did he know? _

Naruto laughed. "You should see your face, dattebayo!"

Sakura looked livid. "Idiot!" She yelled, slapping him on the back of the head. The librarian looked up from her desk to shush them.

"Sorry." Sakura mouthed to the librarian before turning back to Sai. "But seriously, who is she?"

Sai frowned. There were three ways to go about this:

1) Denial. He had no idea what they were talking about.

Pro: No further questions.  
>Con: He'd have to come up with an excuse for asking about love.<p>

2) Lie. Come up with a fake name, a fake person, or pick someone he knew that was relatively safe.

Pro: Takes away threat of them finding out the actual person until he was prepared.

Con: They'd want to meet the fake person, or set him up with his excuse.

3) Stall. Hold off with excuses and distractions.

Pro: He had time to prepare.

Con: Sakura would probably hit him out of frustration.

Option 3 seemed the most appealing.

"We should probably tell Kakashi and Captain Yamato about Naruto's release from the hospital." Sai said, standing up and taking the book towards the shelf he had picked it from.

Sakura frowned. "Yeah, I guess."

"Do you think we're going to have to go on another mission soon?" Sai asked, knowing that the idea would get Sakura on another rant that would last the entire time they were together.

"I hope not! I mean-" And the rant begins. Sai allowed himself a slight smile of triumph as they walked out of the library together.

_Sai: 1 SakuNaru: 0_


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto frowned as Sakura and Sai walked ahead of him out of the library. Sai was stalling. Sai _never _stalled. He didn't see the point, so he gave an answer when asked. Naruto grinned. If he wouldn't tell them, that meant it had to be he didn't want _them _to know yet, meaning it had to be someone they knew. Naruto's immediate theory was Sakura. It made the most sense. Then there was Ino, and maybe Hinata, very unlikely, but possibly TenTen, but he couldn't think of a whole lot of girls. Unless, of course, he had a completely unrealistic crush. Like Granny Tsunade or Shizune…

Naruto shuddered. Yeah, he did _not _need that mental image.

Sakura snapped him out of his thoughts by yelling at him to hurry up. It occurred to him he had just been standing in his doorway. He ran to catch up with them when he noticed Sai… _staring _at him. Like, people stared at him a lot, but…it wasn't a _bad _stare. It was the kind you gave to a shogi game when trying to beat Shikamaru: the _"I'm-trying-to-figure-something-out-but-it-just-keeps-getting-more-confusing" _look.

He met the stare with a look that screamed 'Are you insane?' "What?"

Sai jumped. "Oh…nothing, sorry." He turned around and started walking faster.

"What was that about?" Naruto asked Sakura, whose eyes were widening as though she had just realized something important.

"Nothing." She chirped, before grinning and taking off after Sai, calling a "Race ya!" over her shoulder.

"Hey! No fair!" He called before running after her.

Sai's weirdness could wait.

**_TiMeSkIpOfEpIcSkIpPiNeSs_After-mission-report_ **

"So…" Naruto drawled happily, plopping down on the bench between Sai and Sakura and throwing arms over both of them, a move he had used to do to Team 7 that would usually earn him an Uchiha death glare and an empty bench. He grinned at Sai, who looked like he was trying desperately not to jump up and run away. "You never answered us. Who is she?"

Sai squirmed. Naruto retracted his arms, opting to cross them instead, and Sai appeared just a fraction more comfortable.

Sakura leaned over to Sai behind Naruto's back to whisper in his ear, "Is it even a girl?" Sai's face heated up, and he looked away, before getting up and taking off. "I knew it." She grinned.

"Who is it, tebayo?" Naruto asked spinning around to look at her.

"I don't know, but I think you're searching the wrong shelf for the book you're looking for." Sakura said mysteriously.

"The he- Book? Shelf? Who said anything about a-…" He cut off with wide eyes. "Oohhh…..that makes sense!"

Sakura gave him a disbelieving look. "Do you even know what I'm talking about?"

"He likes someone from another village!"

Sakura face-palmed.

"Okay, try it this way: Try looking on the _other side of the fence." _

Naruto stared at her blankly.

_"In the closet?" _

Nothing.  
>"Holy- HE LIKES BOYS!" Sakura yelled. Naruto stared at her with wide eyes.<p>

"Who likes boys?" Sakura stiffened before turning around and seeing Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji walking towards them.

Sakura face-palmed again.

Naruto blinked, still stunned. "You're telling me- oh god! This just got like ten times harder! How many male ninjas do we know? TONS!"

"Shut up, idiot!" Sakura hissed. "Stay here; don't tell them anything, I'm gonna go find him."

"Why?"

"Because, we just freaking outed the poor kid!" She whisper-yelled before getting up and taking off in the direction Sai went."So…" Ino plopped down on the bench. "Who likes boys?"

Now before you continue, I feel it necessary to remind you Naruto has never been the brightest of creatures, and when he lies, he says the first thing that pops into his head, and in order to not out Sai to anyone else, he said the first name that popped into his head.

"Sasuke does."


	5. Chapter 5

Sai liked trees. They were quaint, and you could see almost everything from them. They were great to hop between during missions, or to train with, or to sit under on a hot day.

Right now, they served their purpose by hiding Sai from the world, but allowing him to view it anyway. Like a ghost, he watched as Naruto said something to Ino that made her gave an insane scream and pass out (he wasn't sure he wanted to know) as Sakura made her way towards the tree he was sitting in.

"Sai?" She called. "Are you there?"

"Up here." He called down.

Sakura looked up and scanned the tree with trained eyes, quickly spotting him. "What are you doing up there?" She asked, grabbing a low branch and swinging up to begin climbing.

"Watching."

"Huh?" She had swiftly climbed the tree and was now perched next to him on the closely placed branches he had found strong enough for effortless security. In other words, there enough branches close together that neither of them would fall through.

Sai quietly pointed to the bench, where Choji was attempting to revive Ino by getting her to eat one of his chips (She'd be out for a while, he assumed) and Shikamaru was making some gesture with one hand (the other still in his pocket) as he said something to Naruto, most likely about how "troublesome" women were.

"Ah." Sakura sat beside him to watch as well for a moment. "You know…" she said after a moment. "Naruto didn't mean anything bad back there. He's just naturally a clueless jerk."

"He's not the bad." Sai defended before he could stop himself.

Sakura smiled. "Of course not. We all love him, he's just….thick."

Sai frowned. "If you…then why…"

"Why do we treat him like we hate him if we love him? Ha. It's kind of a brother-sister thing, really. I mean, when we were first stuck in Team 7, we all hated each other. Now it's just habit."

"No." Sai murmured. "That's not right."

"Huh?"

"You didn't all hate each other. You liked Sasuke, and Naruto respected him, whether he admits it or not, and Naruto liked you. It was just the two of you against Naruto, plus Sasuke's side-hate for you."

Sakura's eyes widened slightly. She hadn't ever thought of it like that… Sure, she knew all of that, but she'd never put all the facts in together.

She gave Sai a light punch in his shoulder. "Hey."

He looked up at her, startled. He obviously didn't get the "friendly punch" thing.

"Why don't we head back down? I'm sure Naruto's said at least ten stupid things I'll have to correct."

Sai reluctantly agreed, and they dropped from the tree to head back.

The first thing they saw upon return was a blur of blonde and purple as Ino flung herself on Sakura.

"IS IT TRUE?" The blonde screamed in the pinkette's face.

"Is what true?" Sakura asked, attempting to pull her face as far from Ino's as possible without making the girl release her shoulders and drop her.

"THAT HE LIKES BOYS!"

Sakura froze. _Play dumb, Sakura, play dumb. _"Who?"

"Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura experienced several emotions at the same time. Relief, disbelief, astonishment, rage, and finally, amusement.

Revenge time.

"Who told you?" Sakura asked, attempting to sound as if some huge secret had been leaked. Apparently, she succeeded, because Ino's eyes widened and she looked about to pass out again.

"N-Naruto."

Sakura tried her hardest not to laugh. "You sound like Sasuke now. He had this insane crush on Naruto. It was ridicules, really, but…sweet, I guess?" Ino pulled a face and made a small choking noise.

This was the most fun Sakura ever had.

Naruto, who had heard this whole exchange, spun around with huge eyes. _"What?" _Sakura winked at him. "We're talking about Sasuke's crush on you."

Naruto, in a fit of panic, jumped up. "He had a _what _on who? _WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THIS?"_

Sakura blinked. "You'd have…I don't know…killed him?" She ventured. If she could figure out what his reaction would have been, she could help Sai…

"Well…" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I don't know. I mean…Ugh. I don't know." His face twisted. "Oh well. That explains a lot, though!"

Now, at this point, the joke was forgotten, and Sakura stared at Naruto in shock. "Like what?"

"Like how he always wound up alone with me for no reason, or how he didn't like any girls, or…" He trailed off. "Huh. I never even realized how obviously gay the poor kid was. Geez, I feel like an asshole friend."

Sai cleared his throat slightly. This conversation was bordering on painfully awkward, and Shikamaru and Choji shot him grateful looks as the conversation instantly dropped.

Well, I'm going now." He held up a hand in a slight wave. "Goodbye."

He heard Team Shika-Ino-Cho concur and Naruto and Sakura bid them farewell, but he did not look back.

He needed to paint.

_Badly._


End file.
